Washington State National Parks - Part 1 - Mount Rainier

Kris and I flew to Seattle to embark on a 3 week Washington state National Parks road trip in August. Our original plan was Mount Rainier National Park -> Leavenworth -> Lake Chelan -> North Cascades National Park -> Olympic National Park with some other stops in between. If you're interested in seeing our full itinerary, DM me and I'll send it to you.

See Washington State National Parks - Part 2 - Leavenworth / Islands here

See Washington State National Parks - Part 3 - Olympic National Park here

our original planned route

When we arrived in early August, Washington state had 55 active wildfires. A smoky haze covered up the long range views on the last couple days of our time at Mount Rainier. We were lucky it wasn't worse in the park area. However, some of those wildfires were directly impacting North Cascades National Park and it soon became clear our Itinerary would have to change. That's covered in Part 2. For now, enjoy the following Part 1 about our time at Mount Rainier National Park (including where we stayed, hiked, etc)...

Mount Rainier National Park

It’s hard to believe Mt Rainier is an active volcano. Such a ridiculous contradiction. A place so beautiful yet could be so violent and could basically wipe out all existence for hundreds of miles in any direction. 

The most glaciated mountain in the lower 48 states, it’s one of the tallest mountains in the US at well over 14k ft. It appears so dominant on the horizon because its topographical prominence is over 11k ft from the top to its base without any other summits nearby. 

We planned well ahead of time and secured our required timed entry passes for the two most popular areas of the park - Sunrise and Paradise - for the days we knew we would be there. 

We really immersed ourselves there and did several short to medium hikes in the Sunrise, Paradise, and Carbon River areas. Our favorites were:

    - Mt Fremont via Sourdough Ridge Trail (added Lower Burroughs Mountain, then down the Sunrise Loop back to parking lot) - 8 miles, 1700 ft elevation gain

    - Skyline Loop - 7 miles, 1,850 ft ele/g

    - Bench & Snow Lakes - 2.8 miles, 735 ft ele/g

    - Silver Falls - 3.25 miles, 600 ft ele/g

As far as wildlife, we saw elk, mountain goats, and marmots. 

After landing in Seattle and getting our rental car, we drove to the small town of Packwood, just outside Mount Rainier National Park and stayed at Cowlitz River Lodge for 3 nights. Packwood is a good base for accessing the Sunrise area of the park. Packwood Brewing was a fun hangout spot with some good food.

Day 1 

Our first view of Mt Rainier as we drove up to the Sunrise Viewpoint

Starting up the Sourdough Ridge Trail towards Mount Fremont

Mount Fremont Fire Tower

mountain goats

close up of glaciers on Mt Rainier

Starting up the lower portion of the Burroughs Mtn Trail

Going back down Sunrise Loop

Day 2

Silver Falls Loop trailhead

fun magical forest greenery

Silver Falls

We drove up to Crystal Mountain Ski Resort, which is outside the park but affords an amazing view of Mount Rainier once you get to the top of the mountain by riding the gondola to the top. We had a nice lunch at the Summit House restaurant.

Looking east, you could see this wildfire

the view from atop Crystal Mountain

On the way back to Packwood, we stopped and did a short hike on Naches Peak Loop

Day 3

We drove into the Paradise Area to hike the Skyline Loop and take in other scenic viewpoints.

starting up the Skyline Loop Trail

Yes, that is a gigantic glacial waterfall at lower left

a little bit of snow left over on the trail in August

long range views were a little smoky from other Washington wildfires 

Note the hikers on the snow. They were headed up to summit Mount Rainier, which is a multi-day permitted and guided expedition.

Myrtle Falls

Interior of the Paradise Inn

We drove from the Paradise area of the park into the even smaller town of Ashford and stayed at the Nisqually Lodge for 2 nights. Ashford is a good base for accessing the Paradise area of the park. The absolute don't miss standout restaurant in this area was Wildberry Restaurant, which serves Nepalese cuisine. It's owned by a former sherpa who guided many Mount Everest expeditions and still holds the world record for the fastest climb from base camp to the summit of Mt Everest. The food here was amazing. Rainier BaseCamp Bar & Grill was also very good. 

Day 4

 We drove back into the Paradise area for sightseeing and shorter hikes.

Bench and Snow Lakes Trail

Narada Falls

Fourth Crossing Trail

Day 5 

We set out for the drive into the Carbon River area of the park (northwest corner), which required a long drive on a gravel road to access the Tolmie Peak trailhead. You'll want at least an all wheel drive vehicle for this drive as it can be a bit bumpy with some rutted out washboard sections on this gravel/dirt road. Carbon River didn't require a timed entry pass.

Tolmie Peak - in Carbon River area of the park

The view from atop Tolmie Peak was a bit hazy from far away wildfires 

Tolmie Peak fire tower

Eunice Lake along the Tolmie Peak Trail

After this hike, go for a swim/cold dip in Mowich Lake, near the Tolmie Peak trailhead.